Helena Wong (weightlifter)

Helena Wong Kar Mun (born 11 April 1988; simplified Chinese:黄嘉汶; pinyin: Huáng Jiāwèn) is a Singapore weightlifter. Wong competes in the female 53 kg weight class. She debuted at the 2010 Commonwealth Games which was held in Delhi in Oct 2010.[3] She made history at the Games by becoming the first ever woman weightlifter to be selected by Singapore to take part in a major athletic event.[3][4][5] She was placed 8th at the Games,[6] her first international competition.[7]

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wong (Chinese: 黃; pinyin: Huáng).
Helena Wong Kar Mun
Personal information
Nationality Singapore
Born (1988-04-11) 11 April 1988[1]
Singapore
ResidenceSingapore
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)[2] (2010)
Weight52 kg (115 lb)[1] (2010)
Websitehelenawong.com
Sport
SportOlympic weightlifting
Event(s)Snatch, Clean and Jerk
ClubSingapore Weightlifting Federation
TeamTeam Singapore
Coached byCyril Martin

Early life and education

Wong is the elder of the two siblings in her family. Wong attended Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Toa Payoh School for her primary and secondary education.[8] She was active in sports since young. She represented her school in judo[9] and was a house captain in her upper secondary years. In her late teens, Wong decided to specialise in sports and in 2005, she opted to study sports at Nanyang Polytechnic.[9]

Wong continued her sports specialisation into her undergraduate studies by choosing to focus in sports despite her equally keen interest towards business and economics.[9] She gave up offers to study business and economics in Singapore’s local universities and ventured overseas to study sport science in England’s Loughborough University in autumn 2008.[9] Wong graduated in June/July 2011 with a bachelor's degree in Sports and Exercise Science from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.

As of August 2012, Wong is a sports lecturer with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).[10] She was previously ITE's scholar under their Associate cum Scholarship Scheme.[9]

Had wide support from her sister.

Sporting career

Wong took up weightlifting by chance.[8] She joined the gym in her university to keep fit and to escape the cold of her hostel room. Wong started off self-coaching from the internet and books[2][8] from June 2009 to February 2010 after being introduced to the sport by UK Athletics strength and conditioning coach Thomas Yule.[8][11]

She met Cyril Martin, a senior weightlifting coach with British Weightlifting (BWL) at the English Weightlifting Championships held at Lilleshall in February 2010 and started training under his guidance soon after[5][8] at Atlas Workout Warehouse in Alfreton, Derbyshire.[5] Wong credits Martin’s tutelage for her selection by the Singapore National Olympic Council to represent Singapore at the 2010 Commonwealth Games within a year after getting into the sport.[5] Wong "didn't really believe it"[12] when Singapore National Olympic Council selected her to represent the sport and the country as she was just a beginner.

SNOC Secretary-General, Chris Chan remarked that, "We took note of [Wong's] steady improvement and thought she would benefit from this New Delhi outing. Her participation would also give weightlifting a welcome boost as the sport enjoys a revival in Singapore."[12] Similarly, Tom Liaw, President of Singapore Weightlifting Federation believes that weightlifters like Wong are contributing to the revival of the sport in Singapore since it was last represented in the 1986 Commonwealth Games.[13][14] Liaw believes that "participation in major competitions like the Commonwealth Games is the next step to raising the profile of [weightlifting]" in Singapore.[15] Wong finished the Games with a total of 146 kg (Snatch:66 kg; Clean & Jerk:80 kg)[6] "a commendable 8th"[16] for her debut international outing.

In August 2011, Wong embarked on a 3-month training stint in Zhuhai Sport Institute in Zhuhai, China to better prepare her for the 26th SEA Games held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia in November 2011.[17] Wong was the only representative for weightlifting and the first Singapore women to compete in weightlifting in the biennial competition.[18] Wong faced tough competitors in the 53 kg category, meeting Thailand’s top lifter and the 2008 Olympic (53 kg) champion,[19] Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarkoon who won with a total of 205 kg.[18][20][21] Wong finished sixth out of nine lifters, making a total of 153 kg (70 kg snatch, 83 kg clean-and-jerk).[18][20][21] Wong had bettered her previous performance set at the 2010 Commonwealth Games by 7 kg.[20]

She represented Singapore at the 2012 Summer Olympics, lifting 61 kg in the snatch and 73 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 134 kg. This meant she finished in 15th place.[22]

Competitive results
Event Competition Venue Date Result
2011
53 kg Women 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Jakabaring Sport Complex, Palembang, Indonesia 20 Nov 2011 6th[21]
53 kg Women British Colleges and Universities Championships Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, Great Britain 11 Mar 2011 1st[23]
2010
53 kg Women (Under 23) British U23 Championships Olbury College of Sport, Birmingham, Great Britain 30 Oct 2010 1st
53 kg Women XIX Commonwealth Games Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi, India 5 Oct 2010 8th[6]
53 kg Women British Seniors Weightlifting Championships The Hunter Centre, Kilmarnock, Scotland 26 Jun 2010 2nd[24]
53 kg Women English Weightlifting Championships Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Lilleshall, Great Britain 20 Feb 2010 2nd[8][25]
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References
  1. London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (23 July 2012), Helena Wong, archived from the original on 21 August 2012, retrieved 28 August 2012
  2. Jonathan Wong (1 October 2010), "Women Struck By Passion", The Straits Times, p. C14.
  3. Singapore Sports Council (21 September 2010), '55 Athletes Set for Debut as Singapore Sends Biggest Ever Contingent to Delhi 2010', archived from the original on 21 February 2011, retrieved 21 March 2011
  4. Loughborough University (8 July 2010), 'History in the Making', retrieved 21 March 2011
  5. Derbyshire Times (24 September 2010), 'Helena's Up For the Games', retrieved 21 March 2011
  6. International Weightlifting Federation (n.d.), 'Commonwealth Games - 53kg Women', archived from the original on 27 May 2011, retrieved 22 March 2011
  7. Singapore Weightlifting Federation (10 November 2010), 'Archive for the ‘Overseas Competition’ Category - Athletes in Competition', retrieved 23 March 2011
  8. Philip Goh (3 May 2010), "No Longer on Her Own" (PDF), Today (Sport):26, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 August 2011, retrieved 23 March 2011
  9. Suan Futt, Yeo (6 February 2010), "Off To A Flying Start", The Straits Times (Scholars' Choice), p. 8.
  10. Sumita Sreedharan (9 August 2012), "Carrying the weight of expectations", Today, p. 28., archived from the original on 28 August 2012
  11. Michelle Ng (13 January 2011), "The Big Interview: Helena Wong", LS Media, retrieved 23 March 2011
  12. Shamir Osman (3–4 July 2011), "Sprint Quartet Back in the Running - Singapore to Send Record Number of Athletes to Commonwealth, Asian Games", Weekend Today, p. 29.
  13. Jeff Ang & Sanjay Nair (5 September 2010), "Female Lifters Heading to Delhi Games", The Sunday Times
  14. Leonard Lim (18 July 2010), "Aim to Better Personal Best at YOG:DPM Teo", The Sunday Times(Sport), p. 51.
  15. Jonathan Wong (6 April 2010), "Lifters Eye Major Games", The Straits Times (Sport), p. B7.
  16. Loughborough University (5 October 2010), Commonwealth Games - Day Two Round-Up, archived from the original on 2 October 2012, retrieved 23 March 2011
  17. Philip Goh (15 August 2011), "Weighlifter Wong off to China for 3 months", Today (Sport):35, retrieved 3 July 2012
  18. Yo-Hinn, Tan (21 November 2011), "Personal Best for Wong as Olympic Champ Prapawadee Triumps", Today, p. 40.
  19. International Weightlifting Federation (n.d.), 'XXIX Olympic Games - Women's Total (53 kg)', retrieved 3 July 2012
  20. Terence Voon (21 November 2011), "Iron Bar Belle Wong Pulls Her Weight", The Straits Times, p. B11.
  21. International Weightlifting Federation (n.d.), '26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games - Women's Total (53 kg)', retrieved 3 July 2012
  22. "Helena Wong Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  23. British Weight Lifting (19 March 2011), British Colleges & Universities Weightlifting Championships 2011 - 53 Kilo Class, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2011, retrieved 5 April 2011
  24. British Weightlifters' Association (26 June 2010), British Senior Weightlifting Championships 2010 (PDF), retrieved 23 March 2011
  25. Eleiko Sport (n.d.), 'WEIGHTLIFTING NEWS - 2010/18, Costa Rica National Games, England, Denmark & Portugal Championships (England Senior Championships)', archived from the original on 4 October 2011, retrieved 23 March 2011
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